We went for a drive, and couldn't get to our destination. (a short post)

 

This was one of the last days of "Leaf Peeping" season in the Hudson Valley, and I agreed to take RQS to Bear Mountain to capture some nice fall images. So, we got dressed, and late in the afternoon tried to go to Bear Mountain - like hundreds of other people.  

But first....

Both of us slept late today, and didn't even have anything to eat until noon.  It took us a while to decide to go out.  But it was another opportunity to go outside while the weather was comfortable enough NOT to wear a coat. So, it was on with the tunic and leggings, and out the door by 3:30.  

It's not a long drive to the Bear Mountain bridge, but it took longer than usual due to the leaf peepers enjoying the weekend slowing up traffic.  When we got across the bridge, we made the mistake of heading for the entrance to Bear Mountain park. And that's where things slowed to a crawl, as the entrance to the park was closed.  It took a few minutes to get to a place we could turn around, and we proceeded to try to reach the park via another route.  No luck on that.  So we ended up taking a long way back to the bridge, going through an area mostly dedicated to West Point (one of the USA's military academies) activities before getting to the bridge.  

Once back at the Bear Mountain bridge, we went to Garrison where I captured the above photo.  Garrison is a sleepy little place, not known for much save for its country clubs and its train station.  And one can get some nice Hudson River views from the train station.  So, RQS was happy that she got some nice photos.

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When we got home, we rested for a while before cooking.  The dish of the day was "Rigatoni Lasagna".  It's a simple concoction made with a tomato based sauce (I chose Marinara), Rigatoni (or a similar shaped pasta), Mozzarella, Parmesan, Sausage (I could have used ground beef), and some other tasty ingredients.  Let's say that we filled up on this dish, and we have leftovers that we can eat tomorrow night (if we have room for them).

Now, to sleep off a heavy meal....

Fireworks!

Although this is not one of my better photographs, it gives the viewer an idea of what RQS and I saw this weekend....

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One of the things about living in the Hudson Valley is that we have a choice of fireworks displays to choose from on any given holiday/holiday weekend.  This year, I decided to take RQS to see the Labor Day fireworks display at West Point, but view it from across the Hudson River in Cold Spring.

For those of my readers who don't know the Hudson Valley, Cold Spring is a sleepy little river town about 90 minutes from NYC by train.  Like many river towns around here, there is a little area near the river front where one can often find a park, a railroad station, and some marinas; with a main street that goes up a long hill.  When I moved to the area, Cold Spring was about to be found by the artistic community, and housing prices were about to zoom beyond the ability of locals to afford them. Today, Cold Spring is one of the more expensive towns in which to live in the Mid Hudson Valley. And it has kept much of its small town charm.  This year, it coordinated its neighborhood street fair to coincide with West Point's fireworks display. 

I normally don't pay close attention to what happens in many of the river towns, so I was a little surprised to find out about the street fair, as it blocked direct access to the river.  However, I was able to find a set of side roads which led us away from Main Street and to the river.  Once I found a convenient parking spot, we had a couple of hours to kill before the fireworks started. So we found a vacant park bench and listened to the Slambovian Circus of Dreams until the fireworks began.

Although watching West Point's fireworks from Cold Spring did not provide us with an optimal view, it did make it very easy to go home from the park.  We didn't have to drag lawn chairs for 3/4 to a car nor did we have to deal with traffic jams getting out of West Point and getting across the Bear Mountain Bridge.